A Fate Worse Than Death
by grangersheart
Summary: Harry Potter with a Once Upon A Time Twist! Voldemort has returned barely alive and desperate. He casts a spell on the magical folk with the help of a dark Necromancer and sends them to the muggle world with no memories of their powers. As Voldemort plans for an even darker fate for the town, unlikely events begin to unfold. DracoxHermione, HarryxGinny, RonxLuna


A/n: Hey there! So this is kind of a Once Upon A Time AU universe. I had the idea and thought I'd roll with it. If you haven't seen the show I highly recommend it, but if you haven't you can still enjoy the story. This will be a DracoxHermione fic and will feature HarryxGinny and RonxLuna. I really hope you like it and if you do let me know so I can continue!

_disclaimer: I do not own anything! I swear!_

A Fate Worse Than Death

Chapter 1: Begin

"No matter how big the lie; repeat it often enough and the masses will regard it as the truth."  
― John F. Kennedy

The hallway was dark, smelled of mold and wet earth, and the walls seemed to be leaking.

A young man in a dark cloak proceeded down the hall, shivering, holding a small feral cat in his arms; it had a squished faced with blood red eyes, focused straight ahead.

The young man was quaking with fear when he stepped into an open room at the end of the tunnel. He had a mop of brown curly hair; dark eyes that where almost black.

He was perfect.

An old man with greasy hair and skin that seemed almost translucent stood in the middle of the room, a cauldron bubbling noisily in front of him.

He peered at the cat with mild interest, paying no attention to the boy who held it.

The cat leapt from the boys arms onto a nearby stool and turned to the old man, who stared into the cat's eyes for a brief moment before nodding and taking out his wand.

"Sorry lad," He croaked, his voice sounded like sand paper.

"W-," The young man saw a flash of green light and collapsed on the floor. The man flicked his wand and the boy's body rose and fell into the cauldron, legs dangling gruesomely for a brief moment before being sucked down. The potion turned a bright blood red and hissed menacingly.

The cat, still perched on the stool, made a groaning noise and the man turned to him and stared back into his eyes.

"Your potion is ready, Lord Voldemort."

_You've done well for me Necromancer; I will give you a great life in this new world. _Voldemort's voice hissed, echoing inside of the older man's head.

"Forgive me for asking master, but do you not hate the muggles?" Necromancer asked crossing his arms.

_Yes, but only a few will keep their memories of their powers and I will be in control. I can contain these foolish people until I can gain control. I will control them all; I will have the life I deserve._

"Who will keep their memories?" Necromancer asked eyeing the can with wary eyes.

_You, I, and…Lucius Malfoy._

The Necromancer shifted his weight slightly and looked uncomfortable. He didn't know the blond pureblood personally but he had heard what a failure he had been.

_It will be his penance to serve me as his family lives on unaware of him or their relation to him. _

The Necromancer nodded at this, understanding. He turned back to the cauldron and waved his hand, sparks began to shift around the room.

"Everything is ready, Master." Necromancer nodded to the cauldron, "The rest is up to you as you see fit."

The cat leapt with surprising grace to the edge of the cauldron and peered down, as if about to plunge headlong into the red liquid.

The Necromancer watched on nervously and wondered how it would feel, if he would even notice, if it would hurt. Red smoke began to unfurl from the cauldron and he inhaled deeply, moments later, everything went black.

* * *

_Tap, tap, tap._

"Hermione, dear, you're going to be late!"

A large mound of blankets and pillows groaned loudly and shifted. A groggy young girl emerged yawning loudly and stretching her arms above her head.

She peered around for a moment confused and blinking rapidly; she had the same lilac walls and ruffly curtains with matching bedding that she had since she was in elementary, everything so bright and shocking first thing in the morning. She didn't remember dreaming but she felt as though something important had happened while she slept.

She glanced down at her clock and realized the first bell would ring in 15 minutes. Her senior year was beginning today and she was going to be late.

With a yelp she jumped up whipping the bedding forward and making it in record time, perfect and smooth, not a single crease. Then she dashed to her bathroom piling her hair up into a messy knot on top of her head, washing her face (with water so cold it gave her goose bumps), and brushed her teeth in less than five minutes. She spritzed on perfume, deodorant, and a dab of eye cream before rushing to her closet and pulling on a summer dress and cardigan. She snatched up her sandals, bag, and sunglasses and bolted down the stairs where her mother was staring at her with a raised eyebrow from the island in the kitchen.

"You've never been late before Hermione," Her mother said sternly passing a portable cup of coffee over. Hermione accepted it gratefully taking a sip, cream, sugar, perfection.

"I know mum I just was in such a deep sleep I didn't hear the alarm," She explained reaching up to smooth a stray curl behind her ear. She snatched up a muffin and kissed her mother on the cheek before running out the door.

Outside the glare of the summer sun hit her and she popped her sunglasses on just as she rounded the corner and saw her best friends.

Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley stood on the side walk, Harry staring at his watch, Ron looking exasperated, when they spotted her.

"I thought it would be a cold day in hell before you where late and we weren't," Ron said rolling his eyes. He had a shock of red hair and intense blue eyes. Hermione had liked him at one point she was sure but now he was like her brother.

She gave him a sheepish grin and turned to Harry, who looked amused. Harry always had a "just-rolled-out-of-bed" look, tousled black hair and a lazy grin. His eyes, a piercing green, looked tired behind his black framed glasses.

"How was last night?" Hermione asked as they began to walk toward the school around the corner.

Harry shrugged and hitched his bag over his shoulder, "Tom caught me sneaking back in and really let me have it."

Tom was Harry's god-father; he was also the mayor. His parents had died when he was very young in a car crash and Tom took over. They rarely got along; Tom always seemed peeved about his responsibility and randomly took it out on Harry. It was borderline abuse in Hermione's opinion but Harry didn't like to talk too much about it and would never say anything.

She dropped her voice low, "Did he hit you?"

Harry was staring straight ahead, "He shoved me a few times, said I need to abide by his rules, respect him."

"He always acts like he's your bloody master." Ron chimed in rolling his eyes.

They approached Hogwarts High School just in time for the first bell to chime loudly. It was nestled on top of a hill surrounded by little houses and condos. The entire town was hidden deep in the hills, of where Hermione never really bothered to know or ask, and it was called Hogsmeade. She always thought it was a funny name but she had been here for as long as she could possibly remember and would never dream of leaving, no one in town seemed to ever think of leaving.

Why would they want to?

Just as they walked through the main gate someone came barreling past them shoving Harry hard in the shoulder.

"Watch where you're going pothead," Draco Malfoy looked back and smirked. A high pitched shriek of laughter followed and Hermione caught sight of Pansy Parkinson, barely dressed and always making jibes at her.

"Fuck you Malfoy," Ron shot out and Harry gripped his t-shirt before he could get any further.

"He's not worth it."

"He's an idiot." Hermione said firmly catching Draco's stare. He grinned wickedly at her before dropping his arm around Pansy's shoulders, who sneered at Hermione, and sauntering off to class.

She tried to reason with herself that Draco's condition was due to his father's death. His mother left to raise him on her own. Everyone in the town knew it, his father died a murderer; the biggest scandal in Hogsmeade.

He had been driving with his sister-in-law, Andromeda, her daughter who was named something odd that Hermione couldn't remember off the top of her head, and the daughter's newborn baby.

Apparently Draco's father had been drunk and crashed into a huge willow tree. No one survived.

Now Hermione saw Professor Lupin, who had been married to the daughter; God what was her name? He was sitting on a bench with a cup of coffee staring at a point in the distance. He was quiet and sad, but an amazing teacher as he threw himself entirely into his work to avoid going home to an empty house.

The final bell let out a shrill warning and Hermione waved to Harry and Ron before starting off to her first class.

Glancing at Professor Lupin's slumped form as she passed him she felt an uneasy weight settle in her stomach and tossed her muffin into the trash. Something had been off since she had awoken this morning; hopefully it was just temporary.

* * *

_The Night Before-1:30AM_

Voldemort dreamed of red smoke everywhere, bright and smelling of sulfur. It engulfed him, everything going black, and he felt as though he were suffocating.

Suddenly his eyes snapped open and he was staring at an unfamiliar ceiling. An object he remembered as a young man, a fan, spinning above him.

He sat up quickly looking around. He was in a large room, everything in it screamed muggle.

It must have worked. It had to.

He peered at his hands, young and tan looking. He then shot out of bed and ran over to the mirror above his dresser. Sure enough, he was young and healthy, his skin tan and glowing. He was handsome, with dark brown curly hair, dark eyes, and looked to be in his late thirties.

He let an evil grin slide over his face. It had worked!

He hurried to the door on the far side of the room; he had to find the Necromancer and Lucius quickly so they could begin their planning.

As he entered the hall he heard a crash and a young man swearing. He paused momentarily before stepping slowly down the stairs and peering into what appeared to be a kitchen.

It was dark but he could make out a form sprawled on the floor. He reached for his wand and realized it was missing.

How the hell do these filthy muggles live without magic?

He slid his hand along the wall and found the switch, flicking it upward.

"Tom! I'm sorry, I know I'm supposed to be home by ten." Harry Potter was sitting up from the tiles, an overturned bowl of water on the floor.

"What did you just say to me?" Voldemort roared thundering down the remaining steps and halting right in front of Harry who stood up quickly, he realized his voice sounded young and deep. The site of the boy repulsed him and he reached out and shoved him backwards. "How dare you call me that?"

"I always call you that," Harry said rubbing his chest. "It's your bloody name."

"I-"

"Master Riddle." A creaky familiar voice interrupted Voldemort. He felt a searing tug as he heard his disgusting father's name. He turned and saw the Necromancer, dressed in pajamas.

"Hello Sam," Harry said stepping back from Voldemort slightly.

"Master Potter, why don't you head upstairs and get to bed."

Harry picked up the bowl and set it on the counter before running up the stairs two at a time. Voldemort whirled on "Sam" and was about to begin firing an array of angry questions when he saw the man had retreated down the hall, beckoning him to follow.

Once inside a small room, it looked to be a study, Sam shut the door firmly and turned to face the unfamiliar figure before him.

"You look good Tom," He said his lip quirking up just a bit. He looked the same, extremely pale skin, misty eyes, and his hair graying.

"Don't call me that."

"That's your name, Tom Riddle, and you will use it in this world." Sam said crossing his arms. How dare this insolent fool command him?

"What of you, Necromancer," Tom leered at the man before him.

"My name was Samuel, before I was known as the Necromancer," Sam stated simply, "Here I am Sam, your butler, and Harry Potter is in your care."

"What?" Tom sputtered incredulously. "What the hell does that mean?"

"You're his God-father."

"What have you done…" Tom felt his heart pounding in his ears and decided he did not like this body, this feeling in his gut; in fact he hated feeling anything at all.

"I had to make some adjustments to the spell, I feel Potter will be close by for us to watch as we carry out your plans and he will be easy to dispose of once we do."

Tom considered this briefly; he could just kill the brat here and now and get it over with. But if he wanted things to go smoothly he couldn't suddenly murder his ward and demand the town to accept it, mayor or not.

"Fine," Tom bit out reluctantly, at least he could make it hard for Harry, and he'd have fun with that. "Where's Lucius?"

"I've got him down in the cellar at the moment, locked up, I figured you'd want to speak with him and make everything clear." Sam said starting towards the door; Tom followed adjusting his night shirt and smoothing his hair.

"I will, but for now I'm going back to bed." Tom stated heading toward the staircase, "I do, after all, have a town to run."

He gave an evil grin before heading up and flicking the light switch, plunging the house, and Sam, into darkness.

* * *

A/n: Okay so let me know what you think! I really hope you liked it and thank you for reading! I'll update soon, Ta!


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